Roof covering



Jan. 23, 1940. T, was 2,188,147

- ROOF COVERING Filed July '7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.3

11 In ven for:

f W W Jan. 23, 1940. GRE|$ 2,188,147

ROOF COVERING Filed July '7. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor:

Patented Jan. 23, 1940 UNITED STATES aoor covsamc Theodor Grela, Cologne-Delibruck, Germany Application July I, 1 'In Germany 6 Claims.

It is known that roof coverings, of whatever typethey may be, cannot be constructed without the formation of joints, grooves and gaps, through which rain, particularly of the pelting type, snow, hail, dust and wind are liable to penetrate. Such joints are formed particularly in the case of fiat tiles, such as plain tiles, as well as in the case of hollow tiles of curved shape, while grooves are unavoidable when grooved tiles are employed. Gaps are formed at eaves and valleys of all kinds, which are usually made of zinc. Various attempts have hitherto been-made with a view to eliminating leaky points formed in this manner. In the first place filling materials, such as bundles of straw, were employed, but owing to their organic origin these soon rotted away and fell to pieces, and have the particular disadvantage of increasing the danger of fire. Furthermore, it has been proposed to employ an underlayer of cardboard for the roof covering; However, the cardboard becomes dried out after a short while and decays, moreover it also en-- tails the danger of fire and is a source of unpleasant smell. For these reasons the daubing of roofs, mostly with cement mortar, has become standard practice. This, however, also involves a great number of defects, since this daubing is comparatively expensive, considerably increases the roof load, is destroyedover a large area when a broken tile is to, be replaced, renders repairs impossible if under the roof covering floors, for example ceilings of rooms, are arranged and causes the destruction of zinc valleys and eaves, since cement mortar attacks zinc very considerably. Another defect which may be mentioned is that moisture formed by sweating cannot run off on the inner side of the roof, but drips down on the mortar filled into the joints, thereby possibly leading to the inner ceilings becoming damp and to the formation of fungus or the like. Furthermore, owing to vibrations which unavoidably occur particularly as a result of heavy trafilc, the mortar breaks away owing to its bad adhesion to the material of the roof covering after a comparatively short period of time and falls out. Finally, the daubing of the roof covering cannot he proceeded with in frosty weather, so that considerable delays may occur in completing building work.

Based on the recognition of the fact that the provision .of filling materials enables the defects of daubing with cement mortar to be avoided and thereby forms the best means for sealing roof coverings, provided it becomes possible to avoid "the fundamental defects, such as rotting, disin- 936, Serial N0. 89,409 July 10, 1935 tegration, decay, drying out, absorption of water and moisture, infiammability and so forth, of filling materials hitherto employed, the present invention provides the insertion of a packing of glass-wadding in the joints, grooves orgapsof 5 root coverings of this kind.' In contrast to the well known glass-wool, glass-wadding is a material of comparatively great elasticity and therefore it is eminently suitable for use as a packing material. In contrast to organic wool orlo wool-wadding, glass-wadding lasts indefinitely, as it. can neither rot, nor is it affected by the weather or atmospheric influences. While wool fibers absorb water and moisture owing to capillary action inherent in their structure, glass- 15 wadding is quite incapable of absorbing moisture, so that even if liquid is directly introduced thereinto it dries out in a very short time. Furthermore, it is fireproof, supple and chemically absolutely neutral, so that it does not attack either the material of the roof covering, or the auxiliary materials, such as zinc, valleys and eaves. Glass-wadding may be worked with in any weather conditions and is also dustproof, so that glass-wadding of this kind is suitable asa packing material for sealing purposes to a-hitherto unappreciated extent.

Moreover, glass-wadding -has a very considerable insulating capacity against high and low temperatures, as well as against sound. In a further development of. the invention it is therefore proposed to dispose the glass-wadding packings as root insulation. It has already been proposed to employ glass-wadding as roof insulation,

but in the known arrangements merely the space between the roof covering and the inner ceiling is filled up with such glass-wadding, while according to the invention the same insulating effects are achieved by arranging the packings, which are necessary in any case, as insulations. 40

The provisions hereinafter described in connection with flat,.hollow and grooved tiles may obviously be employed with appropriate modifications in the case of other types of roof coverings or for the packing of connections. 01 particular importance in this respect is the sound and heat insulating eiiect of glass-wadding in connection with zinc roofs, which, as. is well known, make the habitation of rooms located directly thereunder impossible if such insulations arenot provided.

' Glass wadding is not to be confused with glass wool. Glass wool consists of glass-threads which are produced in the spinning process. There is v produced a smooth comparatively thick 'glass thread having a very slight elasticity and properties which do not promote an entanglement.

Glass wadding consists of glass threads whichare produced in the centrifuging process. The centrifuging process produces a very thin glass thread which assumes a curling,'that is to say an undulatory structure due to the known irreg- 7 such as potato flour, which is also the case in connection with cotton wedding, the card webs or films produced in the spinning process and removed from the card in the form of fleece being coated with a thin solution of glue and dried in order to increase the strength.

Various embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 1

Fig. l is a plan view of a roof covered with hollow tile and packed with triangular glasswadding plates, seen in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the roof 3 covering shown in Fig. l, on the line 11-11 thereof,

Fig. 3 is a 'plan view of a roof covered with hollow tilesyseen in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4, wherein the packing of glass-wadding is also formed as insulation,

Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV--IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a roof covered with grooved tiles, seen in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6, wherein the glass-wedding packing is also formed as an insulation,

Fig. 6 is asectional view of the grooved tile covered roof shown in Fig. 5, on the line VI-VI thereof. I

In all figures I, 2, 3, 4 and so forth indicate the roof battens secured to the roof rafters 5 and serving as a support for the roof tiles. In Figs. 1 to 4 the roof is covered with hollow tiles 6-l0, "-15 and so forth. For the purpose of sealing the head joints formed with these hollow tiles and liable to penetration by rain, particularly of the pelting type, snow, hail, dust and wind, the following precautionary measures are taken in accordance with this invention. Let it be assumed for the sake of example that the courses of hollow tiles 6-40 and II-l5 are already laid. Then, for packing the next course of hollow tiles. glass-wadding plates having the form of isosceles triangles are disposed continuously from left to right on the uppermost one of the courses of hollow tiles already laid in such a manner that the plates assume the positions shown at the top of Fig. 1. This arrangement is characterized in that the bisector i8l6 of the angle l9 enclosed by the equal sides ii, i! of a giass-wadding plate --i8 coincides with the centre line -20 of the overlap 2| of the tiles, the base 22 of the triangle coincides with the lower bounding line 23 (cf.

the lower bounding line of the courses of hollow tiles next to be laid) while the tip 24 of the triangle, which is folded over through 180 towards the base, fills up the corner 25 where four tiles respectively meet in overlapping relationship. Obviously, the direction of laying varies with the direction of laying of the tiles themselves which. as is known, depends on the form of the tile and therewith upon the position of the roof in any particular instance. At any rate, it will be clearly seen in Fig. 2 that by the particular formation and disposition of the glasswadding plates described above perfect seal is assured at the head Joints, the particularly vulnerable corner at the points of overlapping relationship of four tiles respectively which therefore is sealed with an increased quantity of packing, and at the longitudinal joints, which arecovered throughout their length.

If in such hollow tile covered roofs the glasswadding packing is also to serve as insulation, the arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and-4 is adopted for preference. in these figures a further course of hollow tiles 26-40 has been shown. The glass-wedding packings comprise glasswadding plates of rectangular basic form, which are so disposed with reference to the tiles that the lower longer bounding edge 3| of the plates is flush with the lower bounding edge 23 of the insulated course of tiles (reference is had to the hollow tiles already laid, since the insulated course of tiles referred to is not shown in the drawings), while the upper longer bounding edge 32 of the plates, after. folding over through 180 an upper longitudinal strip of the plate towards the lower bounding edge 3|, is flush with the lower bounding edge 23 of the next following upper course of tiles (not shown) In order that this arrangement may be more clearly shown, the right hand portion of the rectangular glass-wadding plate 33 is shown in the condition, wherein the upper longitudinal strip 32' of the plate is folded over through 180 to form the packing for the hollow tile of the next following upper hollow tile course. Since the glass-wedding plates are only of finite length; the shorter edges are preferably caused to overlap slightly at their joint, for the purpose of avoiding the formation of uninsulated points.

The packings may be formed as glass-wadding plates 41 of rectangular basic form andare so disposed that the lower edge l8 of the longer plate bounding edges is fiush with the lower bounding edge 49 of the insulated grooved tile course, while the upper edge 50 of the longer plate bounding edges is fiush with the upper edge of the respective battens I, 2, 3, I which the particular course of tiles engages. In Fig. 5, however, the lower edges 48 of the longer bounding edges project to a. slight extent beyond the lower edge of the insulated course of grooved tiles, because the figure shows the position of the glasswadding plates prior to the actual packed joint being completed by pressing the tile feathers into the tile grooves lying thereunder. Upon pressing down the projecting edges '52 the glass-wadding plates are drawn into the grooves, as shown in detail in Fig. 6.

What has been described above in connection with roof coverings including hollow and grooved tiles, obviously applies to any other kind of roof covering, and particularly also to connection of any kind, since the main feature of the invention is not so much the arrangement of the packings, as the use of glass-wadding as the material of the packings. Thus, for example, the invention is also applicable in connection with boarded or zinc covered roofs.

I claim:

1. A roof covering consisting of a series of separate tile shingles with packings in the joints be- 2,188,147 tween the shingles, said packings consisting of shaped members formed of glass fibers having an undulatory structure forming a matted like wad ding to provide said shaped members, said packings being arranged to substantially cover the inner faces of the shingles and insulate the same,

- sheet-likewadding providing an inner lining so as to substantially cover the entire inner surfaces of at least two shingles of the second course, and the top portion of the sheet-like wadding being folded over the top portions of two shingles of the second course so as to lie flat on the upper surface thereof, 4

3. In a roof structure having supporting rafters carrying transverse battens, a course of tile shingles arranged with the side edges adjacent each other and supported on the battens, a triangular-shaped sheet-like glass wadding arranged with' the base thereof over the top portions of two shingles'with the bisector of the vertex angle substantially coinciding with the side edges of the two shingles, a second course of tile shingles with two shingles thereof covering the lower portion of the sheet-like wadding and the top portion of the wadding being folded through 180 degrees so as to cover the top portion of the two shingles of the second course.

-' 4. In a roof structure having supporting rafters carrying transverse battens, a course of tile shingles arranged with the side edges adjacenteach other and supported on the battens, a rectangular-shaped sheet-like glass wadding arranged with one edge portion over the topportions of said shingles, a second course of tile shingles arranged over said sheet-like wadding and overlapping the top portions .of the shingles of the first course, and the top edge portion of the sheetlike wadding being turned to cover the top portions of the shingles of the second course.

5. A roof covering consisting of a series of separate shingles with packings in the joints between the shingles, said packings consisting of' shaped members formed of glass fibers having a curly structure forming a matted-like wadding to provide said shaped. members, said shaped members packing the joints and projecting therefrom to substantially cover the inner faces of the shingles and insulate portions of the inner faces of the shingles.

6. In a roof structure having supporting rafters carrying transverse battens, a course of shingles with the side edges thereof adjacent each other and supported on the battens, sheet-like glass wadding arranged with the lower portion thereof over the top portions of said shingles, another course of shingles, said sheet-like wadding providing a lining so' as to substantially cover the inner surfaces of the shingles of the second course,'the lower edge of the sheet-like wadding being substantially flush with the lower edge of the shingles of the second course, and the upper edge of the sheet-like wadding being substantially flush with the upper edge of the batten Supporting the upper ends of the shingles of the second TEEODOR GEES. 

